FORMER FESTIVALS:

Formal opening of the fifteenth edition of the International Theatre Festival
„SLAVIJA 2016“ 9 March, at 20:00

International Theatre Festival SLAVIJA is a recipient of the EFFE Label 2015-2016, and it is now a part of the EFFE Platform, consisting of the Festivals that stand for artistic quality and have a significant impact on the local, national and international level, which represent 31 European countries and make Europe a better place.

Festival will be opened by President of the European Festivals Association (EFA) Darko Brlek.

15TH EDITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL SLAVIJA 2016

JUBILEE OF THE FESTIVAL OF GOOD PERFORMANCES

Fifteen years have elapsed since the theatre festival torches were lit for the first time on the slopes of Vračar, in a quiet and beautiful street, named after the Saint Sava – the first Serbian Archbishop, which runs to the magnificent St. Sava Cathedral, and the building of the Serbian National Library. For fifteen years now, in the last days of winter, starting from 9 March, The International Theatre Festival “Slavija” has been held. It is not determined by topic or style, or confined in any programme orientation, nor does it favour any search for new trends at any cost, or experimental performances, most often made for the sake of experiment. Without any doubt, in the last fifteen years it has proved to be the festival of good performances, presented by the theatre companies coming from all over the world, both from the East and from the West, from the North and the South. Every year, the audiences gathered at the festival have witnessed not only various drama and theatre styles, but also different traditions and cultures, and in this way, theatre ensembles, mainly from the remotest regions, performing good performances have become our close friends, who we always wish to see again. This year, too, theatre companies from three continents – Europe, Asia and Africa – are going to participate and show us ten performances of different genres, after the works of famous authors, but also after the traditional folk legends of their countries. The programme of this year’s Festival includes the pieces created from the ancient times, through the middle ages, all the way to the 20th century.

The Festival will start with the performance Mary, by the Regional Drama Theatre from Ryazan, Russia, made after the novel by Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, which was completed by the famous writer in Berlin, in 1926. The text was skilfully adapted through a delicate process by the director and producer Sergey Vinogradov, who has made efforts to show on stage the essence of the Nabokov’s novel – the hero’s lost illusion of love and homeland, leading to his disappointment, anxiety and loneliness.

The Other Side, by Dejan Dukovski, is the piece that will be presented in the second festival evening. It is the performance of the Lidia Lythos DanceTheatre, from Athens, Greece. This is certainly a novelty, since performances of dance theatres have rarely been included in the festival programme. This only increases the interest in this production.
In the third festival evening, the performance Pannochka will be given. It was created after the Gogol’s short story Vij (the name of an evil spirit), published in 1835, in the Collected Short Stories Mirgorod, which is permeated by demonic fantasy that haunts people influencing their action. This piece, presented by the Theatre “U Mosta”, Perm, Russia, is essentially a combination of the theatre of horror, comedy and a philosophical parable presented on stage in an interesting way.

The next, fourth festival evening, on 12 March, we will watch a funny theatrical epic poem by Matija Bećković Will You Give It to Me?, performed by the host – the „Slavija“ Theatre, and thus the repertory of this stage will be enriched by another piece of this famous poet.

In the fifth festival evening, on 13 March, the Theatre „Okolo“, from Moscow will present Endgame, by the Irish author of French expression, Samuel Beckett who is, along with Eugen Ionesco and Jean Genet, one of the most prominent writers of theatre of absurd. The so-called Beckett’s anti-theatre contains undoubted traces of surrealism of James Joyce and Franz Kafka, but that did not prevent its strong influence on the development of the theatre of the 20th century. Considered in its entirety, Endgame can be construed as a monodrama and the closed space as a stage of consciousness with different forms of individuality, which exist and collide at the same time, and under the influence of apathy and despair, they are followed by a state of deep depression. Moreover, if the characters are seen as symbols, this drama opens up the possibility for numerous interpretations, many of which present the writer’s life (Hamm as Joyce, while Clov would be Beckett’s self-portrait).

The National Theatre Cluj-Napoca, from Romania, will present in the fifth evening, on 14 February, the piece Emigrants, by Slawomir Mrožek, a famous Polish playwright and author, who published it in 1974. This master of drama grotesque and language persiflage discusses the existential problems of individuals on their either imposed, or deliberately chosen, life paths in emigration.

The National Academic Theatre of Azerbaijan, Baku, will present in the sixth festival evening, on 15 March, the performance The Divine Game, after the motives of the Legend of Bugach Khan. It is based on the ancient manuscript „The Book of Dede Korkut“, composed in the 16th century as the only text memorial of the epos of the native Oghuz – the ancient Turkisk nomad people, ancestors of Turk, Azeri and Turkmen nations.

The seventh festival evening, on 16 March, will bring us the stage version of the most voluminous book of the Italian narrative prose Decameron, written by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). This book contains a hundred humorous tales, told by seven girls and three young men, during ten days, after they left Florence, having run away from the plague. The performance of the Chamber Theatre from Kaunas, Lithuania, which mainly deals with love, is a harmonious synthesis of literary word, music and stage movement.

The next evening, on 17 March, the Theatre „Malenki“, Tel Aviv, Israel, will present the performance The Bastard’s Story (Leer, Puppets and People) after the motives of the Shakespear’s King Lear. Lear without Lear, presented by a bastard, is an interesting spectacle, directed by Michael Teplitsky. The performance conforms to the spirit of the present day: there is no king or his kingdom, only puppets and people.

The last evening, on 18 March, the Theatre Group “Lightning Group“, Alexandria, Egypt, will present the play by the Hungarian author Istvan Orkeny „The Toth Family“. It is a grotesque tragicomedy, set in the World War II, which depicts happenings in a country family that hosts a major, the war commander of their son who is on the eastern front.

The Festival will finish with an off-programme performance, given in the honour of the winner: The host, “Slavija” Theatre will present a rarely performed play by the greatest Serbian playwright, Branislav Nušić „The First Lawsuit”. Worthy of the jubilee!